amaterasu–historyandpersonalimage

AMATERASU – History and Personal Image

Amaterasu Oomikami
[天照大神 ] is described in the Japanese
Kojiki [古事記- Ancient Records ] as the
Sun goddessIn the Kojiki, Amaterasu is known
as the god from which all light emanates, and is also often referred to as the ‘Sun
Goddess’ because of her warmth and compassion for the people who worshipped
her; an interpretation of "light" or "heat" as passion, or
purity.

She sent
Ninigi-no-Mikoto [笵杵の尊], the first human being,
to occupy the Japanese isles, and later his great-grandson became the first
emperor, Emperor Jimmu [神武].
With him he had a sacred sword,jewel
and smoky mirror that became the symbols of the Japanese imperial regalia.

Although usually
known and depicted as female, the Kojiki gives little clue about Amaterasu's
sex. (Early Japanese language does not use gender-specific pronouns.)

Amaterasu is also
credited with inventing the cultivation of rice, the use of silkworms, and
weaving with a loom. Her most important shrine, the Grand Shrine of Ise [伊勢神宮], is located in Ise, Japan
on the island of Honshu.

She is celebrated
every July 17 with street processions all over the country.

And
so it was that two years ago, on July 16, I began attempting to create a
fractal image in order to personally celebrate the mythical Amaterasu.Fractal images are most often created with a
symbolic representation in mind.At
first I attempted a simple, green sprout of rice since the Goddess had bestowed
this basic necessity of human existence, at least in the orient, upon the first
people to inhabit the Japanese isles.

Fractal
images are constructed from images or bits of images which may enlarged, as
above, or transformed in a number of differing ways.Layer upon layer, with limitless
interactions, and the addition of backgrounds.Creativity at its most playful and joyous.

So
the original concept was to depict a shoot of rice shortly after it had
germinated and was growing upward toward the light, which of course was
furnished by the heavenly presence of Amaterasu, the Sun Goddess.

A
reduced image of the Ultrafractal software program in the early stages of this
particular creation.On the left is the
preview panel with the emerging rice shoot and other larger plants behind it. The
center bottom panel is the color gradient which is used and can be changed
countless ways.A brown neutral
background layer has also been added and I was aiming at the simplicity often
found in certain types of Japanese painting.

Then
serendipity!

I
was attempting to change the coloring of the rice sprout in order to make it
look more recently germinated and hence would be a much lighter shade of
green.Copied and pasted the wrong color
gradient and was presented with quite a different image. And inherent in this new image were numerous possibilities.Soon added new layers, shading, manipulating,
and a single image began to emerge –
that of the Goddess Amaterasu herself. Then an appropriate kakemono type
frame.The final step was the addition
of the name Amaterasu in Japanese kanji characters and my personal ‘hanko’, or
name stamp.